Initially, the most shocking thing about Raekwon's long-promised 2009 album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II was that it actually existed. You could say the same for Wu-Massacre, a new collaboration from Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, and Method Man. Unlike Cuban Linx II-- a long-rumored sequel to a decade-old record-- talk of Wu-Massacre only began to surface last July. Tracks were leaked shortly afterward, videos were filmed, cover art was revealed, and now, it's here. Forget about Wu-Tang product; that timetable is unthinkable for most major hip-hop releases.
The limitations of that turnaround are unmistakable on Wu-Massacre. The three stars appear on a total of three songs together, and the padding they needed to push the album beyond CD-single status is obvious from the credits alone: two skits, guest verses from nearly every Theodore Unit B-teamer (Sheek Louch sorta counts at this point), and three remakes. All to account for about 30 minutes of music.
"Criminology" was on Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, and it's probably the one word most closely associated with Raekwon's style. But for reasons that escape logic, he doesn't even show up to open the album on "Criminology 2.5". Hearing Method Man paraphrase some of his old lines ("Fuck that, criminology rap/ Niggas hate and I hate back, floating the flyest Maybach") is a little like watching Speed 2, and the beat itself is just a glossed-up karaoke version of the original. "Mef vs. Chef 2" is better, but again, the sequel suffers from context-- on the original, whoever RZA chose as the winner of the duel of the iron mic would get the track on their solo release. Here, it shares space with a 30-second rant from Tracy Morgan on worthless hoes.
Still, at the record's core are three MCs willing to spend a little critical capital and just have fun over pitchshifted soul beats. Method Man could have felt like a third wheel here, but his concise hooks anchor the more awkwardly wordy ones from Ghost and Rae. Whether he's playing the seducer on "Miranda" or the verboloigst on "Gunshowers", Meth flexes the understated versatility that made his turns on Cuban Linx II so enduring. Ghostface thankfully sounds energized and committed again after last year's cynical Wizard of Poetry, which helps overshadow the familiarity of his material. "Youngstown Heist" finds him back in deranged "Shakey Dog" mode, which is fun again until Sheek Louch and Bully tank the song's second half.
But you evaluate what you got, not what you wanted, and being too harsh on Wu-Massacre is kind of like criticizing a hamburger for not performing a steak's duty. Twenty-five minutes of these three on autopilot still hits more often than not, ultimately making this disc a mixtape-y More Fish-style companion to Cuban Linx II-- hardly necessary, but not inconsequential.
